Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon
| death_date = | death_place = South Kensington, London England | occupation = Fencer, Landowner | Spouse = Lucy Duff-Gordon | parents = Cosmo Lewis Duff Gordon Anna Maria Antrobus | Known for = Survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster Olympic silver medalist | signature = CosmoDuffGordonSignature.png }} Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff Gordon, 5th Baronet DL (22 July 1862 – 20 April 1931), the son of the Hon. Cosmo Lewis Duff Gordon and the former Anna Maria Antrobus, was a prominent Scottish landowner and sportsman. He was particularly noted as a fencer, representing Great Britain at the 1906 Summer Olympics, winning silver in the team épée event. He was also a self-defence enthusiast who trained with champion Swiss wrestler Armand Cherpillod at the Bartitsu Club in London's Soho district.Vaucher, Abel: Cherpillod, Armand, "La vie d'un champion: Cours de culture physique et de jiu-jitsiu", Lausanne, France, éditions "civis", 1933 Duff Gordon was the co-founder of the London Fencing League, a member of the Bath Club and the Royal Automobile Club. He was a sheriff and magistrate in his native Kincardineshire, near Aberdeen, where his ancestral country estate Maryculter was located. Duff Gordon was the fifth baronet of Halkin, his title stemming from a royal licence conferred on his great uncle in 1813 in recognition of his aid to the Crown during the Peninsular War. In 1772 his family had founded the Duff Gordon sherry bodega in Spain, which still produces high-quality fortified wines. In 1900, Duff Gordon married the famous London fashion designer "Madame Lucile" (née Lucy Christiana Sutherland, then Mrs. James Stuart Wallace). This was slightly risqué, as Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon was a divorcee and had a sister, Elinor Glyn, noted for writing erotica. Cosmo Duff Gordon is best known for surviving the sinking of the [[RMS Titanic|RMS Titanic]] in 1912, along with his wife and her secretary, Laura Mabel Francatelli. Rumours that the Duff Gordons bribed the crew in their lifeboat not to rescue people in the water threatened their reputations, but the British Board of Trade's Inquiry into the disaster cleared them of any wrongdoing and a letter written by the secretary further clears their name. It is known that lifeboat 1 of the Titanic was barely filled as many onboard still believed it to be "unsinkable" and that First Officer William Murdoch was glad to offer Duff Gordon and his wife a place (simply to fill it) after the couple had asked if they could get on. In 2012, documents were found in the rooms of the law firm that represented Duff-Gordon, that give separate detailed accounts of the Titanic sinking by Duff-Gordon and his wife. In the papers, written by Sir Cosmo and presented to the lawyers defending his interests, reference is made that the cheque for £5 which Sir Cosmo gave to the crewmembers on the same boat, was because they had lost everything. One crewman had stated that Sir Cosmo offered "a fiver" to each of them, to row away from the other victims. According to his great nephew, Gordon spent the rest of his life "quite reclusive", and he died 20 April 1931 of natural causes. He is buried at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, Surrey. Cosmo Duff Gordon was portrayed by Martin Jarvis in the 1997 film ''Titanic''. The actor's wife, Rosalind Ayres, played Lady Duff Gordon. In the 2012 ITV mini-series Titanic the couple were portrayed by Simon Paisley Day and Sylvestra Le Touzel. References * Burke's Peerage * Who's Who (UK) * Etherington-Smith, Meredith; Pilcher, Jeremy, "The 'It' Girls," ISBN 0-15-145774-3 * External links * Encyclopedia-Titanica.org Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon * Family tree Category:1862 births Category:1931 deaths Category:RMS Titanic's crew and passengers Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Category:Scottish fencers Category:Fencers at the 1906 Summer Olympics Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Category:People educated at Eton College Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Kincardineshire Category:Scottish landowners